Private company

Paramount Airways Limited

British charter airline

Paramount Airways Ltd. was a British charter airline based at Bristol Airport. It operated flights also from Belfast and Birmingham to Mediterranean basin destinations. The airline entered receivership in Summer 1989 and halted operations in November.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1986Founded1
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (DC-9-83), Paramount Airways AN0607447
Photo: Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Paramount Airways Ltd. was a British charter airline based at Bristol Airport. It operated flights also from Belfast and Birmingham to Mediterranean basin destinations. The airline entered receivership in Summer 1989 and halted operations in November.2

The story

Paramount Airways Ltd. was established on 8 July 1986. After that it ordered two brand new McDonnell Douglas MD-83s, with the first one delivered on 24 April 1987 to allow operations to start on 1 May 1987. During the European winter, the airline operated charter flights from Gatwick Airport to Goa. The airline acquired two more MD-83s for the 1988 season.

On 22 November 1988, Paramount took over another minor charter carrier, Cardiff-based Amber Air, which was experiencing difficulty in sustaining operations. On 7 July 1989, Paramount was declared insolvent to the tune of £11m, major creditors being Bristol and Birmingham Airports and entered administration. It was also under examination by the Serious Fraud Office over the loss of £13.5 million by the Eagle Trust which it had close links and shared a chairman.

On 2 September, an McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was impounded at Birmingham, while the other, plus the ex Amber Air Boeing 737, were similarly detained at Bristol. All the aircraft were subsequently released and by October, there appeared to be reasonable prospects of finding a buyer for the airline. Instead the McDonnell Douglas MD-83s were released on 14 November for return to their lessor. The airline was not actually wound-up until July 1995, following a lengthy litigation by former employees to secure outstanding wages and pension rights.

From Wikipedia’s article on Paramount Airways Limited, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Paramount Airways operated the following aircraft:

From Wikipedia’s article on Paramount Airways Limited, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Nov 1989Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1986Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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